Oakland couple feared missing in Peru have contacted family

An Oakland couple who went incommunicado while bicycling through South America and were feared missing has contacted their family, the sister of one of the cyclists confirmed Wednesday.

Larkin McGowan confirmed through a text message that her family has heard from her brother, Garrett Hand. She did not give any more details.

The family planned to address the situation with the media later Wednesday.

Hand and his girlfriend, Jamie Neal, had not been heard from in more than a month, sparking concern from their family and friends, who started a massive campaign to raise awareness of their plight.

American and Peruvian officials said Tuesday that Hand, 25, and Neal, 27, had been spotted about five hours from Iquitos, Peru, in a village called Angoteros on the Napo River, a tributary of the Amazon

But Francine Fitzgerald, the mother of Hand, said remained dubious they were safe until she said she could hear her son's voice.

McGowan confirmed Wednesday she had heard just that.

The online campaign to locate Hand and Neal began earlier this week when Fitzgerald reported that she had not heard from her son since Jan. 25.

In an interview Wednesday morning, Fitzgerald said that "until my son gets off a plane at San Francisco Airport and steps into my arms," she would be concerned for his safety.

Peruvian Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism José Luis Silva Martinot said Tuesday that officials would send a plane to find the couple and alert them of the growing concern.

Hand and Neal set out in November for a six-month biking trip through South America and they had been calling family frequently and updating their status on Facebook. The updates stopped Jan. 25, and family grew increasingly worried when the couple's digital trail went cold as they were on their way to Peru.

"He would call every eight or nine days," Fitzgerald said. "They were so happy."

Worries about the couple's safety was compounded when the State Department issued a travel warning, noting that criminals may have been planning to kidnap U.S. citizens in the Cuzco and Machu Picchu areas. Cuzco was the location of Hand and Neal's last Facebook posting.